Ready for peace talks, without pre-conditions: HNLC
According to a statement released on Tuesday evening, signed by the HNLC general secretary-cum-publicity secretary, Saiñkupar Nongtraw, the group decided to “give peace a chance” on the request of “elders and some social organisations.”
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The outfit also urged the Centre to appoint an interlocutor for the talks and show its "seriousness".The outlawed Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC), which was behind a low-intensity IED blast in Shillong last month, has offered to sit for talks with the Meghalaya government and the Centre, without pre-conditions and within the “ambit of the Indian Constitution”.
According to a statement released on Tuesday evening, signed by the HNLC general secretary-cum-publicity secretary, Saiñkupar Nongtraw, the group decided to “give peace a chance” on the request of “elders and some social organisations.”
“After much consultation with some elders recently we have decided to come into a peaceful agreement with the GOM [Government of Meghalaya] and the GOI [Government of India]. As of now, we are ready to talk within the ambit of the Indian Constitution and we are ready to have talks without any pre-conditions. If the GOI is willing then we are ready to go for a dialogue,” the statement said.
The outfit also urged the Centre to appoint an interlocutor for the talks and show its “seriousness”.
“Now the ball is in the government’s court to decide whether it wants to give peace a chance or to continue this conflict,” the statement said adding that the group stood firm to “defend the right of our people and our land”.
The HNLC, which demands a sovereign Khasi homeland in Meghalaya, is a breakaway faction of the Hynniewtrep Achik Liberation Council (HALC), the first militant tribal outfit of the state.
Currently, the group’s commander-in-chief, Bobby Marwein, is based in Bangladesh, along with five other leaders. In Meghalaya, the HNLC have been responsible for three blasts since July 2021.
The outfit also said the “killing” of the former general secretary Cherishterfield Thangkhiew, who was in favour of peace talks and was assigned the task to carry forward the peace initiative with the Centre, in 2021 had derailed the peace process.
In August 2021, Thangkhiew’s death in police operation had led to a breakdown of law and order in Shillong. While the police claimed he was killed in “retaliatory firing”, his family described the killing as “cold-blooded murder” and a “fake encounter”.
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